Celestial Land and Sea (24 page)

"Well, Grace, I must admit I'm rather surprised. This wasn't at all what I had expected," he said once they were both seated.

"Mr Barrie, I know I probably shouldn't have written it. I had no business asking you to—"

"I enjoyed it."

"You—you enjoyed it?"

"I wasn't sure what to think at first, but once I got into it, I had to admit that I actually found it quite fascinating." He leaned onto his desk with his hands folded on top of the article. He wasn't exactly smiling, but it didn't matter to Grace. He'd actually said he'd enjoyed it. He'd called her
article
fascinating
!

"Just to make sure I'm following it correctly, it
is
about the effects of past events on our present day opinions?"

"Yes, that's correct, sir."

"It's all very vogue these days, isn't it? All that stuff about parallel timelines and spiritual connections. Although I don't believe in any of it myself, of course, I can't deny that there's a demand for it out there. I want you to put this on the website."

His words had been sudden, not at all what Grace had expected. Perhaps she hadn't heard him correctly.

"I think you're onto something here, especially the part where you talk about history walking amongst us without us realising it. People will eat that stuff right up. Tell me though, what did you mean when you were talking about blood links?"

"Ancestry, sir; I believe that our ancestors—spiritually speaking, of course—can assist us on our present journeys. I know I can't prove it, but—"

"I don't need you to prove it, Grace. I just need you to write it. People love tracing their roots and finding out where they come from, where they believe their genes originate, that sort of thing. There's an audience for this, I know there is. I'm going to create you a profile—"

"A profile?"

"On the website, Grace. You see, I've realised that we cover everything a digital news site needs to cover: sports, beauty, current events, all of those things. But we don't have anything general, content that won't become so quickly dated. Sports news is soon taken over by some other match. Fashion pages go out of style quicker than those fake Prada boots Fran's always wearing. They're all great to have on the site, and necessary too, but if we put this sort of thing out there, it might reach a wider audience, and at a much more frequent rate. That's why I've decided I'd like you to be my writer for the new column we're going to be running. Get this—it's going to be called 'Hot Topics'. Simple but effective, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, I do agree. You want me to...really, sir?!" Grace couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was the first time she'd ever witnessed any sign from Mr Barrie that he actually knew what he was talking about. Perhaps he wasn't so bad at running Anchor after all, even if he was a nightmare to work for.

"Whatever the public are buying into, I want you to write about it. If they're squealing about an infestation of poisonous spiders, I want you to cover it. If they're going crazy for calorie-free cheese, you write about it. As long as it's exciting and going to draw ratings for longer than a day, then it's your responsibility. We really need content like that on the site to attract new readers. Do you think you're up to the job?"

"Absolutely sir! I won't let you down, I promise!"

Mr Barrie stood up. "Right, well I'll set up a tab for you on the site. I want one main feature a week—you can start with this one you've written here—but I want you to do follow-up posts. Go into the streets, interview people. It'll help to publicise Anchor too if you're meeting people face to face. It's about time we started branching out. In the meantime, I need you to go back to your desk and continue with whatever it was you were doing. I still need you to maintain any incoming emails because they're not going to manage themselves. I hope you're ready for an increase in workload. This is going to be a much more demanding job than what you're used to."

"Yes, Mr Barrie. I'm absolutely ready!"

"I'm counting on you not to let me down, Grace." Mr Barrie held open the office door to let Grace out. "Fran, can you come in here a moment please? I have something for you."

Fran walked around Grace as she crossed the office. Grace wasn't going to think about whatever it was Mr Barrie was giving Fran. Besides, she was fairly certain it would be
Fran
who was giving something to
Mr Barrie
. It didn't matter though. Her plan had worked. How or why she didn't know, but her article had actually worked! She had been offered a new job. She didn't have to leave Anchor after all. She couldn't stop smiling as she sat down at her desk and plugged her USB stick into the computer, ready to format the article for uploading.

As she waited for the file to open she saw Andy coming toward her, his eyes shining. "How did it go?"

"I've been given a new job!" she squealed.

She struggled to get the words out as she began to tell Andy everything, trying to process what had happened as she was relaying it. Her plan had worked, her article had succeeded. She was in love, and better still, that love was returned.

It was insane, she knew it, and it was all happening so fast. She was going to need to pace herself, try to take it all in. Something told her that this wasn't going to end any time soon, and she could not be more thankful, for she knew none of it would be possible if it weren't for Gráinne O'Malley.

 

 

 

 

 

 

E
verybody on board the
Pirate Queen
had left England with smiles on their faces. More than anybody though, Gráinne couldn't quite believe they were returning safely. It hadn't been an easy journey, but she'd known from the moment they'd left Clare Island that it would not be straightforward. Now, she couldn't help but wonder if she would have committed herself to the Queen's agreement had she been able to consider it in advance.

Of course it was silly to doubt her decision; she'd always said she would do anything for her son, and she meant it. Even if it meant that somebody else decided where she was allowed to sail. And apparently it was now the case that she most certainly was
not
allowed to sail south of Ireland.

The water lapped gently against the sides of the ship as they approached Clare Island. The mid-afternoon sun had tinted the water with a warm glow, the turquoise surface pulling the
Pirate Queen
forward, guiding it to its destination.

"Home sweet home!" Donal shouted to his sister from the deck. She glanced at him and smiled, acknowledging his cry of delight.

Cathleen clutched Donal's arm as they returned to the dock. She'd done well on her first voyage, as Donal kept reminding her, and she knew she deserved to be proud of herself. When she had time to recollect everything then maybe the reality would hit her—whether or not she'd choose to sail with Gráinne again was a decision she still had to make. That is, if Gráinne would welcome her back on board. She desperately hoped that she hadn't let her down. She'd definitely had fun though, especially listening to Michael's stories of his pirate adventures that he entertained the crew with on the way home. Yes, it had been quite a journey.

Tibbott had managed to keep his spirits up as best as he could. He didn't say much though, and even now, as he stood next to Gráinne, he remained, for the most part, silent. Gráinne had her suspicions that there was something he wasn't telling her, but she decided it was too soon to force him to speak about it. What had he experienced, or what had he seen, that he was keeping quiet about? Maybe she was just being paranoid, but she couldn't quite shake the feeling that nothing was as plain-sailing as it appeared to be.

Once the ship had docked, Gráinne addressed her crew.

"Thank you all for your hard work and dedication during our journey. It has not been easy, and it certainly hasn't been safe, but we all made it home. Better still, we made it back with Tibbott, just as we promised we would." There was a cheer from the crew as they applauded the young man, who was now starting to blush. "You may now return to your families and let them know that you are safe and well."

Everybody piled out of the ship. Gráinne walked with her arm linked around her son's; they were the last to leave the ship.

"It's good to be back on Irish soil," she remarked, taking in her surroundings as her crew dispersed. It felt like a lifetime since they'd first set sail. It always did. She turned to see Cathleen's father hugging his daughter. "Hello, Mr O'Flynn," she greeted.

"Gráinne, how glad I am to see everybody return," he said, supporting himself on Donal's shoulder. It was clear that his health was declining. "How did it go?"

"Fairly well," she replied with a smile. "We got what we went for, and that's the main thing."

"Tibbott. I'm thrilled to see you've come home safely." He shook the young man's hand.

"And it definitely is
our
soil now, isn't it?" Cathleen bounced on the end of Donal's arm as she responded to Gráinne's earlier comment.

"Yes, Cathleen," he replied. "Yes, it is."

The five of them started up the hill as they set off for their own homes. It was their land again, wasn't it? Gráinne had trusted the Queen with their agreement. There had been no questioning it. Maybe she shouldn't have let her guard down. Was she foolish for thinking that Bingham would actually return the land he'd stolen? She couldn't let her mind think about it too much. Right now, she had to focus on spending time with her son. Tibbott was her main priority now. Her family had to come first.

Not that she was giving up quite yet. Battles still had to be won, and her union with the sea was as alive as ever. She knew her relationship with England was not over yet, but there would be time to deal with that later.

The tension surrounding the agreement she had made with Queen Elizabeth would no doubt cause opinions to divide across the island, but one thing was for certain: as Gráinne O'Malley stood at the peak of the tallest hill on Clare Island that evening, her attention fixed upon the land that surrounded her, and the sky above her illuminated by moonlight, the decision was made that her story would not go unremembered. Little did she know that, four hundred years later, she would be brought forward in time to guide another woman along her own personal journey. What had so recently become the past for Gráinne would ultimately become important in shaping the future for Grace Byrne.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A
rtistic license is a fine thing, isn't it?

A lot of the events I've written into Celestial Land and Sea did not actually happen. I say this—they certainly occurred inside my head, but I expect they didn't happen in real life. Given the fact that there's not an enormous amount of information readily available about Gráinne O'Malley, at least in comparison to other historical figures, and specifically her contemporary Queen Elizabeth I, I took the liberty of moulding the facts I could find so that they worked with what I wanted to write. Some of the characters are based on real people, but others—Cathleen, for example—only ever existed in my own world. Until now, that is.

I'm very excited to be able to set my second novel in Hampstead. It has a gloriously rich history. It's alive with stories and adventures. When I first visited the area several years ago I knew it was exactly the sort of place I was looking for to explore a new area of spiritualism in my fiction. Hampstead offers a lot of exploration, and I certainly have no plans of abandoning it any time soon.

I must thank those whose support has guided me through writing Celestial Land and Sea, namely David and Kelly and the team at Open Books; the family and friends who probed me with questions about the novel's development, keeping me pushing onwards; and my personal inspirations for its characters, in particular my approach to Elizabeth I. The composition of this novel is based on a foundation comprising late nights, several dead ends, and the consumption of more cups of coffee than I can ever condone, but every second for me has been an unforgettable journey I'll always treasure. Besides, I never could resist a pirate!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A
rtistic license is a fine thing, isn't it?

A lot of the events I've written into Celestial Land and Sea did not actually happen. I say this—they certainly occurred inside my head, but I expect they didn't happen in real life. Given the fact that there's not an enormous amount of information readily available about Gráinne O'Malley, at least in comparison to other historical figures, and specifically her contemporary Queen Elizabeth I, I took the liberty of moulding the facts I could find so that they worked with what I wanted to write. Some of the characters are based on real people, but others—Cathleen, for example—only ever existed in my own world. Until now, that is.

I'm very excited to be able to set my second novel in Hampstead. It has a gloriously rich history. It's alive with stories and adventures. When I first visited the area several years ago I knew it was exactly the sort of place I was looking for to explore a new area of spiritualism in my fiction. Hampstead offers a lot of exploration, and I certainly have no plans of abandoning it any time soon.

I must thank those whose support has guided me through writing Celestial Land and Sea, namely David and Kelly and the team at Open Books; the family and friends who probed me with questions about the novel's development, keeping me pushing onwards; and my personal inspirations for its characters, in particular my approach to Elizabeth I. The composition of this novel is based on a foundation comprising late nights, several dead ends, and the consumption of more cups of coffee than I can ever condone, but every second for me has been an unforgettable journey I'll always treasure. Besides, I never could resist a pirate!